Anatomy of a correction: Kudos to Block Club Chicago for fixing today’s Archer project article after feedback from officials, readers, and Streetsblog

Reporting mistakes – they happen to the best of us!

In the past, when Streetsblog Chicago has brought up factual errors to our colleagues at other publications, some have been responsive, others not so much. For example, longtime SBC readers may remember one of the many hilarious run-ins I’ve had with Ronald Roenigk, publisher of the Inside Publications neighborhood newspaper chain, who has called himself the “King of Nimbyland.” (If you’re in a hurry, just read the highlighted part.)

On the other side of the Chicagoland media spectrum, Block Club Chicago is the good kind of community news outlet, whose sustainable transportation articles are usually very well done. In fact, one of their best reporters on walk/bike/transit issues is Ariel Parella-Aureli, a former contributing writer to Streetsblog. Check out her fun article today: “Logan Square Families Unite To Form ‘Bike Bus,’ Allowing Kids To Cycle To School Safely.”

Likewise, Block Club’s Southwest Side reporter Francia Garcia Hernandez’s coverage of traffic safety issues in that part of town is usually quite good. For example, her reporting on Archer Avenue traffic safety project protester Claudia Zuno’s 12th Ward aldermanic campaign launch last February was very accurate and balanced. I especially liked the line, “The protests have also become a platform to voice opposition against [incumbent Ald. Julia] Ramirez and [Mayor Brandon] Johnson from Urban Center, a pro-charter-school organization led by disgraced United Neighborhood Organization Schools CEO Juan Rangel.”

(I’m confident Streetsblog would have also provided a detailed report on the launch party if one of the organizers hadn’t quickly escorted our reporter off the premises when he found out who they were writing for.)

On Tuesday, I wasn’t surprised when NBC and Fox reports on a recent press conference by Zuno and other opponents were missing some key information. Those news outlets failed to mention that immediately after the presser, the candidate and her crew stormed Ald. Ramirez’s office with petitions, cameras, and chants of their slogan “2 Lanes Not 1!” led by Zuno’s aide-de-camp Maria “The Megaphone Lady” Martinez.

But to be honest, when I was doing Today’s Headlines this morning, I was disappointed to see a very misleading headline on the Archer issue from Block Club and Garcia Herndandez. It read, “City Removes Some New Concrete Bike Lanes, Pedestrian Island, Amid Protests.” (And I’ve heard that the original version didn’t even include the word “some.”)

That implied that the Chicago Department of Transportation and Ramirez were caving to pressure from politically-motivated weekly protests near the ward office. It stated that they were dismantling some of the traffic safety infratructure, which wasn’t the case all. I expected more from Block Club, a scrappy, independent publication that many SBC readers know and love.

Last Friday, Streetsblog’s broke the story of the announced edits to the Archer plan, and we including a full explanation and renderings of the new street layouts at the end of our post. If you’d read our statements such as, “None of the concrete bike lane protection will be removed,” based on info from City staff, you’d know that the original Block Club headline “City Removes Some… [concrete bike lane protection]” was likely misleading. The infrastructure was being redesigned to make room for 17 new car parking spaces, but not permanently removed.

(To Block Club’s credit, unlike most mainstream media outlets, today’s article mentioned that, in addition to the weekly Archer project demonstrations, there have been “other neighbors [leading] counter-protests to show support for the project.”)

Archer project supporters at the April 14 rally. Photo: Eli Orozco

I emailed Block Club staff about the issue this morning. An hour later, I posted about it on social media.

An Instagram post from Ald. Ramirez this morning suggested she felt exactly the same way about Block Club’s original headline. And she gets extra credit for using a Public Enemy reference. (I included a few of those as Easter Eggs in Tuesday’s Streetsblog post about Zuno’s press event.)

I’ve also seen evidence that Streetsblog and Block Club readers brought some noise about this matter as well.

Block Club and Garcia Hernandez were responsive to these concerns. In addition to changing the headline, they ran a correction at the top of the edited piece.

Here are a few more changes to the Block Club articles text I noticed this afternoon, once the headline was fixed. The bolded text was deleted or changed in the edited version.

Original text:

“The recently announced adjustments include adding back 17 parking spaces in three sections of Archer Avenue: eight parking spaces by Archer and Albany avenues [near 43rd Street], where a portion of concrete bike lanes is being removed; four by Archer Avenue and Troy Street; and five by Archer and Christiana avenues, where bike and parking lanes will be reconfigured.

Screenshot of that passage in Block Club’s edited text (the bold text has been removed):

Another section of Block Club’s original text:

“Officials will also convert Whipple Avenue into a northbound one-way street from 43rd Street to Archer and add back a second southbound traffic lane on Archer Avenue near the intersection of Pershing, Archer and Rockwell avenues. To make these changes, a portion of the concrete bike lane near that intersection had been removed as of Wednesday.“

Screenshot of that passage in Block Club’s edited text:

I realize that average Chicagoans may find the second half of this Streetsblog post to be a bit “Inside Baseball.” But I’m confident that the subset of SBC readers who are hardcore bike infrastructure geeks like myself will be interested to learn about these minor edits.

Once again, I appreciate Block Club Chicago’s and Francia Garcia Hernandez’s good-faith effort to get their facts straight once they were alerted that changes might be needed. It’s an encouraging sign that when issues arise in the Chicago journalism scene, reporters are going to work it out.

Read the edited Block Club article here.

On November 12, SBC launched our 2026 fund drive to raise $50K through ad sales and donations. That will complete this year’s budget, at a time when it’s tough to find grant money. Big thanks to all the readers who have chipped in so far to help keep this site rolling to the end of 2026! Currently, we’re at $32,556 with $17,444 to go, ideally by the end of May.

If you value our livable streets reporting and advocacy, please consider making a tax-deductible gift here. If you can afford a contribution of $100 or more, think of that as a subscription. That will help keep the site paywall-free for people on tighter budgets, as well as decision-makers. Thanks for your support!

– John Greenfield, editor